Wait… were you guys fighting?
Well, as a matter of fact, we were. Last year, I even thought of quitting all social media because, in my opinion, it was more harmful than it was beneficial. And no, I have never been what you can call “a popular girl of Instagram” or any other network, also I haven’t suffered in consequence of it (as many Instagrammers have) and, to be honest, I have had positive experiences with all the social media I was involved with. But, somehow, I began to believe the self(ie) world was very time consuming, superficial, and stressful.
At the time, I was writing my final paper for Uni and I was reading so much Sociology and Communications articles. One, in particular, caught my attention, which was written by Professor Luiz Martino. In his piece, in Portuguese called “A atualidade mediática: o conceito e suas dimensões” ( I don’t know if there is an English version), he defines the concept of atualidade mediática which I will freely translate here as “mediatic actuality”. It is a sphere of social happenings that we only consider an event as a fact if transmitted by the means of communication. For example: if an earthquake reaches Japan right now and no news media talk about it, the event would probably stay known only within that affected community. When the event gets broadcasted then it enters the circle of the mediatic actuality.
(Leia este texto em Português)
I’ve managed to apply this concept to the usage of social media and it is possible I have failed miserably, but I still think it is worth sharing. What if we post what we post in the urge to prove that we have done the things we have done? What if everything we post is only an attempt of turning our lives into a succession of really “cool” events? Weekly, daily, hourly we update our social network in the hope people still remember us, in the hope people care about our opinions or what we like, in the hope they think we are pretty and highly consider our existence. Or worse, what if we only post things to prove we are living so that we validate our existence as if we didn’t do all that work we would simply not be “real”? I couldn’t accept to be “played” like that, to quote Walt Whitman: “I exist as I am. That is enough”.
I was decided. I made up a whole plan on how to quite it all which now seems very impractical: I mean, collect everybody’s email and try to stay in touch just was not going to happen (yes, it was my idea). Instead, I’ve learned how to deal with social media, in a way that attends my beliefs and also makes me feel comfortable (an approach that can change anytime). Some people have this all figured others have never really thought about it. In any case, by no means I am trying to convert you to my way of thinking, it’s just a perspective. You are free to do whatever you want. Be happy!
Enough small talk… This is what I learned so far from my experience and by trial and error:
- The followers and the likes, the posts and the intentions
The followers, the likes, the shares… These are the instant needs of most of them. Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube… With their different mechanisms, they ultimately encourage us to expect these reactions. I don’t need to say about some consequences of this dynamic, for that you have many scientific and non-scientific articles.
The rise of the digital influencers, and here I mean mainly on Instagram, have had a profound and special impact in this “necessity”. The fact these people were once “people like us” somehow made us believe, not only we could live like them, but that we should. They’ve become the pattern, the model to be followed. And all the respect for those who are trying to build an image or a career with social media. Me? I was not. Why was I caring about the number of people I don’t know that was liking my pictures? So, to solve that I made all my social media private and restricted to the people I know only.
Also, I started to question why I was posting what I was posting. Every time. So much it became a habit. Of course, I still “expect” the reaction of the people within my social circle, but I know with fewer people comes fewer likes and shares, etc. And even if I receive few likes or none at all on a picture I liked I would be okay because I know what made me post it. I began to understand my intentions in sharing and exposing any event in my life. Whether I thought it was a great picture or an interesting movie I’ve seen if I thought it was worth sharing I did it.
Last, but not least, I became way more observant of who I was following and letting influence me. It’s not only about the usage of social media, but it has a lot to do with its consumption as well. I keep following some celebrities, those who have fulfilling messages and refreshing content. With the time I have leftover I just go do anything… literally anything productive!
And you, how do you use social media? Have you ever thought about these things? Let me know!
See you,
Ana.
[Relaunched post from July 10, 2017]
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